So what exactly happened at the Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) town hall event last night, in the St. Louis suburb of Mehlville, where six people were arrested outside after a confrontation between a Tea Party activist and some labor union guys? The picture is still murky. Here’s a video that has circulated, appearing to show the Tea Party activist on the losing end of a fight, as well someone with SEIU who is on the ground:
The problem, however, is that a recording of a fight or an eyewitness account usually begins after the first punches get thrown, and people just begin to notice that something is going on. As such, we remain in the dark on what exactly happened.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of assault, two for interfering with the police and one for a peace disturbance — including a reporter who the police believed was getting in the way of their effort to restore order.
For his part, the conservative activist who came out badly in this brawl — indeed, he was treated at a hospital — has identified himself as Kenneth Gladney, who claims he was attacked for being a black conservative while he was peacefully handing out signs that said “Don’t Tread On Me.” The local Tea Party organization has now announced that they’ll be holding a new protest tomorrow — right outside the local SEIU office.
Jim Hubbard, Carnahan’s deputy communications director, made it clear to me that the altercation took place after the Congressman had already left. He also said that this event hadn’t even been intended as a town hall on the health bill — it was scheduled well in advance as a discussion on aging issues. “But unfortunately a lot of people showed up last night wanting to cause a disruption,” said Hubbard, also adding: “But I think it’s clear that there’s a national effort by those who oppose health insurance reform to cause disruptions at these sorts of open forums.”
TPM reader Michael Purdy, a science writer at the Washington University School of Medicine, said he came to the event in support of health care reform, but not as a directly participating activist. The fight broke out after he’d left, but he gave us an idea of just how stormy the interactions were between the Tea Party and the rest of the attendees. “For example, there was a guy who, when I was walking by with a health care reform sticker on, said ‘Oh look, there goes a loser.'”
“There were elements of genuine hostility in the confrontations, but no violence yet,” he also said. “Another teabagger said he was willing to recognize the Obama government ‘for now,’ but backpedaled when I confronted him about it.”
A spokesman for the St. Louis County police could not comment beyond confirming that the county police were on the scene, made six arrests and will be applying for warrants next week, and at that time a court date will be set. All six people who were arrested were later released on their own recognizance. But the police report itself has not been approved or reviewed by the department’s legal counsel. The investigation is still ongoing, and any citizens who witnessed it and/or had cameras are encouraged to come forward.
What’s clear is that some sort of brawl happened, and this fellow Gladney clearly got the worst of it — and the right-wing media is quite incensed. We’ll see how things go from here.
Calls to the local SEIU, plus the state Democratic and Republican parties, were not returned.
Late Update: This post has been edited to make clear that the video shows two people on the ground. One of them appears to be with SEIU, while another could be Gladney.
